In May 2024 Wendy and I travelled to Berlin then to Greece for several weeks.  We finished our European trip with a week in Bulgaria, followed by a week in the UK, before flying back to Sydney.

On a previous trip to Turkey and the Balkans we had bypassed Bulgaria, not knowing what to expect. My awareness was mainly informed by the spy novels that I've read in which Bulgaria figures. These reflect real life 'Cold War' espionage when the country had one foot in the Soviet Union and the other, half in the West.

In my mind Bulgaria was most associated with the 1978 murder of Georgi Markov in London. Markov was a Bulgarian writer who defected to the West to work as an anti-Soviet journalist for the BBC World Service and Radio Free Europe. While crossing Westminster Bridge one day he was stabbed in the leg by an umbrella-wielding Soviet agent. His assassination became known as the 'Umbrella Murder' and remains one of the most famous examples of Cold War espionage.

So, I warned Wendy to watch for spies carrying umbrellas.

But we soon discovered that that was all in the past and the stories of the country's general decrepitude were also highly exaggerated. We had, after all, just come by bus from Thessalonica in Greece (where shabby has become an artform).

Our first stop was Sofia airport where we were to pick up a rental car.  A small adventure took place - wrong terminal etc.  A long drive to Plovdiv partially, retracing our steps, then ensued.

Old Plovdiv 

Arriving in Plovdiv, Tom Tom, our GPS, directed us through narrow one-way streets, to a boom-gate featuring a large sign in English: NO PARKING. Our hearts sank. A gate man appeared and we uttered the magic words "Boris Palace". His stern look dissolved into a smile, "Ha Boris - yes," and the gate was raised. From that time on, we joined the select few able to park in the Old Town and up went the gate when we approached.  

Boris Palace is a guest house-cum-hotel (more the former) with large 'period' rooms and a bath tub, in the ensuite, into which one must climb to have a shower. We are starting to recognise this as a universal feature of soviet era bathroom architecture. The better to drown dissidents?  Indeed, Boris Palace has several resemblances to other ex-soviet places in which we have stayed in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan: Luxurious after a fashion. And just so slightly, comical.

Boris Palace

Plovdiv is a town with many pasts. Now the second largest city in Bulgaria, a democratic Republic and member of the EU, with elections for both approaching in June, the Soviet past is still evident in the architecture. 
Yet, so too are other pasts including the: Ottoman; Byzantine; Roman and Hellenic.  In winter, it's a ski resort.

Plovdiv - traditional house styles; the Roman amphitheatre; and the minaret

According to Wikipedia:  Plovdiv is often referred to in Bulgaria as "The City of the Seven Hills".

There is evidence of habitation in the area dating back to the 6th millennium BCE, when the first Neolithic settlements were established. The city was subsequently a Thracian settlement, later being conquered and ruled also by Persians, Ancient Macedonians, Celts, Romans, Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Bulgarians, Thraco-Romans, Bulgars, Slavic tribes, Crusaders, and Ottoman Turks.

Bulgaria prides itself for its religious tolerance. Over 60% of Bulgarians identify as Christian - by far the majority of Christians are Bulgarian Orthodox. Islam is the next largest faith community (15%) - with a greater percentage of Muslims practicing than do the Christians. 

The Christian Church has had a cross to bear (and bare). It has been revealed that during the 'Cold War' period some members of the Orthodox clergy were filing reports to the Committee for State Security on deviant views and behaviour among their parishioners (spying on fellow citizens). As a result, the reputation of Christian Church suffered, as it has elsewhere due to paedophilia, in a way that Islam has not. 

Different religions

Only about a thousand people identify as Jewish. In 1934 there were almost fifty thousand Bulgarian Jews. The decline is due to the impact of the Nazi Holocaust and a post-war mass exodus (officially: 43,961) to Israel.

In the 1940's due to its geographical position, Bulgaria was caught between the greater powers of Germany (the Axis) and Russia (the USSR).  Initially this went well under the The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). But that went pear-shaped in June 1941, when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded Russia. Now Bulgaria was a firm ally of Germany, and the Axis, and invaded Greece. They also implemented sanctions against Jews and Roma. The US Holocaust Museum has more details. Also see: Bachkovo Monastery (below).

As the war drew to a conclusion, and the Axis was obviously going to lose, the pro Russian faction sized power.  And from that time, until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria was a staunch Russian ally and Fascism was replaced by Communism.

Today, Bulgaria is a unitary (single house) parliamentary republic, a member of the European Union and of NATO.

Yet, like Romania, it's not a member of the Euro zone. The currency unit is the Lev with exchange rate pegged to the Euro. And like Romania this has allowed it to establish favorable trading and the lowest labour rates in the EU, resulting in the inflow of foreign investment and strong economic growth. Favorable exchange rates also encourage tourism - like us.

It was in the lead-up to the European Elections, in two weeks time, and the local parliamentary elections were to be held simultaneously. These have more importance than the Presidential elections.

As in Australia, the Prime Minister is appointed by the majority party and effectively rules the country. The President has similar (limited) powers to our Governor General (Viceroy to Charles, King of Australia; of England; of Canada; of New Zealand; etc). Ireland has a similar President. They have thus avoided the presidential usurpation of Parliamentary sovereignty, common to almost all ex-Soviet countries. Not to mention (potentially) the United States.

 The thriving democracy was on full display - a number of the electioneerers spoke English and were happy to chat
Several were candidates

One doesn't have to look far to see the residue of Bulgaria's diverse history.  Have a look at the soviet style post-office and flats; the main mosque; the churches; the Roman ruins and the amphitheatres (above).

Roman and Soviet era remains

There's quite a big Art Gallery here in Plovdiv. Yet, despite all the tourists invading the old city I seemed to be the sole patron - maybe the entry fee, of 3 Lev, puts them off. Yet, they crowd into the churches.
It's a pity as although none of the artists are familiar to me I really liked some of the paintings.

Plovdiv Art Gallery
Click on the image to see the full album

 Asen's Fortress

The after enjoying Plovdiv for a couple of days, we drove out to Asen's Fortress, pitched as: "Centuries-old mountaintop fort ruins with a restored church, plus a terrace & panoramic views." It was quite high - a winding road up and then lots of steps. The sheer drop from the top of the fort was suitably caution inspiring. It reminded us of Vlad's (the Impaler) fort in Romania.

Asen's Fortress (Wendy's photos - my phone was resting in Plovdiv)

Asen's Fortress Church - The Church of the Holy Mother of God

The church is quite interesting - Byzantine Greek script surviving in places. 

Bachkovo Monastery

A bit further on from Asen's Fortress is the Bachkovo Monastery recommended for tourists:

Bachkovo Monastery [Uspenie Bogorodichno]  The stainless steel plaque at the entrance reads:
"In this holy monastery lie Patriarch Kiril and Exarch Stefan who, in a selfless display of courage and humanity,
played a decisive role in preventing the deportation of Bulgarian Jewry to the Nazi extermination camps in 1943.
Were the world blessed with more individuals of such valour and nobility as that shown by Patriarch Kiril and Exarch Stefan,
surely more Jews would have been spared their tragic end.
May the memories of Patriarch Kiril and Exarch Stefan be forever blessed."   (Wendy's photos)

 
I was fascinated by the faithful venerating the principal icon and then doing the rounds of the others. Then they light their candles in a fume cupboard, very like one in a chemistry lab. Very sensible, as it protects the ancient images from smoke and wax.

The National Gallery of Bulgaria Sofia

We said goodbye to Plovdiv and drove to Sophia where our comfortable hotel was right across the road from a very large art gallery: the National Gallery of Bulgaria.

National Gallery of Bulgaria
The collection is huge
Many are portraits, of people mysterious to me. And again, the artists are mostly unknown to me too
One exception being Aristide Mailliol
Click on the image to see the full album

Probably the most commanding building in Sofia is the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky.

Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky
Yet, inside it's rather dull, as Orthodox churches go.
It contains a very large void, dwarfing the surrounding icons and frescoes, that are dulled by candle smoke
I can't show you, as they wanted 10Lev to take a photo - and I was put-out after
a churchperson insisted that I put on long pants before I could gain entry.

Boyana Church

Among the tours one can take out of Sofia is a bus tour to  the 'culturally important' Rila Monastery.  We opted not to spend most of our day on a bus to see another monastery but noted that the tour also stopped at: Boyana Church, "a medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church," in the outer suburbs, that we could easily drive our rental car to.

It turned out to be a, recently restored, UNESCO World Heritage Site and quite interesting. We were pleased that we didn't take the organised tour. It would have been problematic to visit with a busload, as entry to the church is three or four people at a time (about a dozen inside) and a second wait in the Annex. Even when it's not busy it involves a half hour wait to be allowed through the tiny wooden door.  

The church owes its world fame to its frescoes, most from 1259
"They form a second layer over the paintings from earlier centuries and represent one of the most complete
and well-preserved monuments of medieval art in the Balkans."
Needless to say, no photographs were allowed inside (but you can see some of them on-line here)
The grave (top right) is of Queen Eleonore of Bulgaria

The grounds are also historic and include the grave of Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz (22 August 1860 – 12 September 1917) Tsaritsa (much loved Queen consort of Ferdinand I) of Bulgaria.

Interestingly, the gave is a restoration.  Wikipedia tells us that: during the Communist period, "the grave was broken into, her jewelry stolen and then the memorial stone bulldozed back in the grave, with no visible marks left over the ground. However, after the democratic changes in 1989, the original memorial stone was excavated and the site was restored back to the original state."

Sofia Communist Tour

To get some more historical information and to see something of the city we joined a three-and-a-half hour Sofia Communist walking tour of the city.

Initially it was raining, but the sky cleared and a party of around 20 set out. 

"The tour covers a 45-year-long period of Bulgarian history (1944 – 1989), including the factors that led to it, its aftermath, and how it affects present-day Bulgaria."  In particular, it claims that participants will "Find out what it was like on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain"  And: "Our main goal is to present this controversial period of history in an objective and informative way," we were advised.

The tour included the main landmarks of communist history in the city of Sofia: Former Headquarters of the Bulgarian Communist Party; Secret Police Investigation Facility; the location of the destroyed Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum (an amazing story - click on the link - it was still there in 2020 but is no more in 2024); the Monument of the Soviet Army (almost as bizarre - particularly as Bulgaria had already switched sides, as explained above, so no Soviet troops were required - it too is disappearing, by degrees); the National Palace of Culture, the Memorial to the Victims of the Communist Regime, and Berlin Wall memorial.

Monument of the Soviet Army; A remaining Hammer and Sickle (most have bee taken down):
The President's Palace; and part of the Berlin Wall
The inscription says: 
On August 13, 1961, a wall divided Berlin, Germany, and with it, Europe and the world in two.
Bulgaria remained enclosed to the east of this wall - until November 9, 1989, when the people knocked it down.
This broken piece of the Berlin Wall is a gift from the Berliners to the citizens of Sofia as a sign of a reunited Europe and proof that the Bulgarians are now free.
Berlin, May 2006

The walking tour assured us that we would "learn about the theory of communism, what Marxism-Leninism is, the history of communism in Bulgaria, and the pros and cons of the period. Topics also include World War 2, religion, industry, economy, housing, culture and everyday life of the Bulgarian people."

We enjoyed it.

Changing of the Guard

At the Presidential Palace we were in time for the changing of the guard. 

Changing of the guard in Sofia

Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker - much prettier inside than the huge Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Much more interesting than the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky is the nearby Saint Sofia Church, the oldest church in Sofia, dating from the fourth century.
In the 14th century, the Byzantine church gave its name to the city, that was previously known as Serdika. 

It's both older and newer than the nearby cathedral.  It's on the site of a Roman necropolis that has since been excavated under the present building, allowing public access.

Church of Saint Sofia - built over a Roman necropolis
The site spans the pre-Christian; Byzantine; Ottoman (when it became a mosque - destroyed by two earthquakes and abandoned)
to eventually be renovated and restored as a church, in the early 20th century

Absolutely fascinating.

It's just one of many Byzantine remnants around Sofia.  But, of course, Sofia is a world capital and despite all the churches, worshipers are relatively few.  As elsewhere, cathedrals to Mammon also abound and are much better patronised.

A Shopping Mall in Sofia  (Click on the image above to see the full Bulgaria album)

 On the whole, we can recommend Bulgaria.  From Sofia, after returning the car, we flew out to London.